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Google adds built-in PDF support to Chrome Dev channel

Google has released version 6.0.437.1 of Chrome for Windows and Linux, and version 6.0.437.2 for Mac OS X into the WebKit-based browser's developer channel (a.k.a. the Dev channel). The latest update addresses a number of bugs found in the previous Dev update and integrates a PDF reader into the browser.

Discussing built-in PDF support in Chrome, Google Engineering Director Marc Pawliger said, "PDF files will render as seamlessly as HTML web pages, and basic interactions will be no different than the same interactions with web pages (for example, zooming and searching will work as users expect)," noting that, "PDF rendering quality is still a work in progress, and we will improve it substantially before releasing it to the beta and stable channels." In the Chrome developer channel for Windows and Mac, users can enable built-in PDF support by going to chrome://plugins. While PDF reader under Linux isn't yet supported, Pawliger says that it is "on the way" and that it will be enabled by default "in the coming weeks". The developers also note that many advanced PDF features found in Adobe's Reader product, such as certain types of embedded media, are not yet supported.

Other changes include faster scrolling on Mac OS X 10.6 systems, Linux bug fixes and initial support for extension syncing. Browser preferences such as themes, home page and start-up settings syncing were added in version 5.0 of Chrome, while bookmark sync was added in version 4.0. As this is a Dev channel release, use in production environments and on mission critical machines is not advised. Users testing the release are encouraged to provide feedback and report any bugs that they encounter.

More details about the latest Chrome Dev release are available in a post on the Chromium Blog and in the change log. Chrome 6.0.437.1 for Windows and Linux and version 6.0.437.2 for Mac OS X are available to download from the Chromium Early Access Release Channels page. Alternatively, users that currently have a Chrome Dev channel release installed can update using the built-in update function by clicking 'Tools', selecting 'About Google Chrome' and clicking the 'Update' button. The latest stable release is Chrome 5.0.